US youngster became the tenth-fastest man of all time this week - and his
times are way ahead of all today's sprint greats at the same age

The emergence of Trayvon Bromell, the 19-year-old American sprinter who ran 9.84 at the US trials this week, has sent shockwaves through the athletics scene. An event dominated in recent years by the Jamaicans could have the script torn up ahead of the World Championships in Beijing this year by a relative wildcard.

The teenage college student became the tenth fastest man of all time with his semi-final performance, before following it up with another sub-ten second run in the final.

Bromell could not beat Gay in the final but will pose a threat in Beijing

Compare his achievement to the five fastest men on the planet when they were his age and one might be tempted to say that Bromell could before long challenge Usain Bolt’s monopoly on men’s sprinting.

The only other of these athletes to break ten seconds before they turned 20 was Yohan Blake, with Bolt not doing so until he was 21.

From the below line graph you can see that each of Bolt, Blake, Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin have become considerably faster after their teenage years, peaking anywhere between 22 and 33. Bromell has plenty of time to improve on his recent showing.

It took Blake until the age of 21 to go as quickly as Bromell did at the trials; Powell broke that speed aged 22; and Gay did not do so until he was 24. Gatlin may be the fastest man in the world so far this year as well as holding the second-fastest time, but he did not clock 9.84 or lower until the age of 30.

Bromell and Blake broke on to the sprinting scene earlier than their peers, and Bromell was slower than the Jamaican aged both 16 and 17. However, the American’s progress since has been simply astounding and he could well give Bolt a real contest in Beijing.

Bromell’s run equalled the once world record time held by Donovan Bailey, made him the fastest teenager ever and put him amongst the fastest ten men of all time.

It could be that August’s meeting is contested between Gatlin, Gay, Powell and now Bromell, though, with Blake yet to get near ten seconds this year and Bolt closer but still only clocking a best time of 10.12 so far.

Those two remain the fastest men on the planet, but it looks like the Americans have a better chance of glory this year, and in Bromell they could have a legend in the making.